Tickets for Saturday's Tri-Nations rugby match against New Zealand at Newlands Rugby Stadium - which holds 49 000 - are completely sold out.
But Western Province Rugby managing director Rob Wagner says there is no truth to rumours that tickets have been oversold.
A tale that about 350 tickets had been duplicated and sold due to a computer mistake was doing the rounds in rugby circles this week.
It was alleged that the duplication had happened during a block booking for a hospitality suite.
| 'There is definitely no oversale of tickets' |
"There is definitely no oversale of tickets," Wagner said.
Both seating and standing room are sold out and the box office will be closed on match day.
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The general manager of marketing for Western Province Rugby, Gavin Lewis, said: "This was the highest demand for a Test match so far."
Ticket-holders are urged to get to the ground early to avoid queues and bottlenecks. Gates open at 1pm and kick-off is at 3pm. Boundary Road will be closed to traffic from 1pm.
Some fans willing to pay hundreds for tickets have turned to newspaper classified ads in desperation.
Bartel du Toit of Oudtshoorn, who described himself as a rugby fanatic, is prepared to pay up to R600 a ticket for him and one of his sons to watch the match.
"If you live so far away as I do, it is impossible to get tickets the normal way because we cannot go to the stadium to buy them," he said. "I got helped this way before, but I have to know where the seats are. I am prepared to pay R500 to R600 a ticket, but then I want to know it is not in some corner of the Railway Stand."
Julia of Stellenbosch, who did not want her surname published, said she was prepared to pay R300 each for three tickets.
"I look at the weather, I think I am going to get wet, and I think: How keen I am to be there? I am not prepared to pay R700 a ticket," she said.
But so far scalpers, who buy large numbers of tickets and sell them at a profit, have not started operating.
"If they had, I would have been able to get tickets. But it is certainly not the case," Julia said.
Ticketholders are not allowed to take glass bottles, tins or cans into the stadium, nor firearms, other weapons, dangerous objects or musical instruments.
Lewis said the stadium would be full and security would be tight.
"We ask people to be sensible in terms of what they're thinking of bringing," he said.
- This article was originally published on page 1 of Cape Argus on August 03, 2005
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